Lonely
by Cassandra Ann 15
Summary: "Tony was laying on Steve's stone hard couch, watching some stupid game show on cable tv and slowly eating the remainder of the carrot sticks, the spare key still lying where it had been this morning when Steve first gave it to him. Oh yes. He was having the time of his life."


After days and days of it raining buckets, soaking everything in the small apartment from the millions of tiny, too small to find and patch up without going into the attic leaks in the ceiling that had formed from the months of nobody living here, Tony was pretty much done. Done with being in a leaking apartment with nothing to eat except cans upon cans baked beans and carrot sticks, done with the fucking rain that basically trapped him indoors (not that he didn't like the rain, he just prefered not to get wet unless absolutely needed), and done with the fact that even though he built things for a _living _and had been working on something to help Rhodes with his handicap for his birthday, he wasn't allowed to build anything in Steve's old apartment. Well, Steve's exact words, Tony remembered perfectly almost as much as the look that Steve had given him while he had said sternly this morning, "_Don't take anything apart while I'm gone, like when you took apart my old radio the last time you were here. Buy whatever you want at the corner store down the street, but I don't want to see any pieces of anything anywhere. Here's a spare key that you can use if you leave. I'll be back in around 4ish. I love you,"_ but again, _rain. _So instead of doing something productive, such as finishing up the repairs and upgrades on his hand blasters from when Steve had so graciously smashed them or working on Rhodes gift, Tony was laying on Steve's stone hard couch, watching some stupid game show on cable tv and slowly eating the remainder of the carrot sticks, the spare key still lying where it had been this morning when Steve first gave it to him.

Oh yes. He was having the time of his life.

Tony glanced at the clock underneath the tv while a commercial about diapers replaced the obnoxious game host's face and almost choked on his carrot when he saw it was 3:00. Had he really been sitting there since 8 in the morning doing nothing but watching tv and eating Cal-Organic? Seeing that he probably had better things to do then listen to another hour of corny jokes and happy shrieking of winning contestants, Tony slowly rose from his position on the couch, stretching his back and arms as he went. Switching off the tv and taking out his phone from the back pocket of his jeans, Tony slowly stood up and walked into the kitchen/dining room as thunder boomed overhead, causing the lights above him to flicker as he checked his phone for any messages from Pepper about the renovations in his workshop. 'Alright then,' Tony thought as he looked up from his phone to the lights in the ceiling as a drop of water fell on his nose from god knows where. 'That probably isn't good.'

Not for the first time that week, Tony wished he was back in his warm, water-free penthouse in Stark Tower, drinking a cup of freshly ground coffee that Steve would have so graciously made for him while he oversaw the upgrades that were being installed into his workshop. In truth, he _could_ have stayed in his warm, water-free penthouse while the upgrades were happening (especially since he had made them himself and he wanted to make sure they worked) and he _could_ have convinced Steve to stay on his floor with him instead of going to live on this little piece of hell on Earth. It actually made more sense in the long run if he had stayed for the week the renovations were going on. But, somehow Steve had convinced him, probably on one of his all nighters in which he was partly asleep, that he needed a break from all the work he was doing on his suits, the Tower itself, and Rhodes' gift. Pepper had also enforced the idea the next day, saying that he didn't spend enough time with Steve and that this was the perfect opportunity them to reconnect as a couple. And once Pepper made up her mind about something, it might as well been the law.

Snapping out of his reverie by the sound of his phone receiving a message, Tony blinked a few times and reopened his phone as he pulled out one of the chairs from under the table in the kitchen/dining room. He slid into his chair with a thud and rested his elbows on the rickety old table as it squeaked at the sudden pressure being put on it as he read the message he had received. He wouldn't admit it, but he liked the fact that somebody actually remembered that he was alive and decided to reach out and talk to him.

The message was from Pepper, asking him if he was having a good time and telling him that everything was fine at the Tower. Instead of texting the usual, Everything's fine here too. Unfortunately. Nothing exciting here other than the noise upstairs that sounds like someone is putting a hole through the wall., he closed the messaging app, and quickly typed in Pepper's number into his phone. Not hearing anybody's voice the whole day was beginning to get to him. Tony Stark was not used to not being paid attention to.

Holding the phone to his ear, the ringing seemed to go on and on forever, making him feel even more agitated than he already was. Finally, to his great dismay, Pepper's voicemail replaced the constant ringing in Tony's ear, causing him to aggressively end the call and slam his phone onto the table. "She just texted me, dammit!" Tony said out loud as he rested his head in his hands, a deep sigh escaping his lips. "How could she just _become_ busy? Even when we were together, she _never_ got busy that quickly."

After sitting in that position for several minutes, Tony quickly got up from his seat at the table and went right behind him to the refrigerator, hoping to find something with at least a little bit of alcohol in it. But, not that Tony was surprised, the refrigerator held no alcoholic beverages to his liking and he closed the fridge with a defeated push. The thunder boomed again overhead and in about 10 seconds after that, all the lights in the apartment, even the lamp near the tv that wasn't connected to any power source and ran on batteries, completely shut off.

Groping his way through the darkness back to the table to retrieve his phone and his key to the apartment, Tony almost smashed his head into the table as he tripped over one of the chair legs. A stream of curses coursed from his mouth as he finally grabbed his phone and, upon opening it, turned the flashlight on so he could see if the lightbulbs had burst when the power had died. Most of them had, leaving pieces of shattered glass across the floor and onto the table. Other then the lights though, nothing else seemed broken, thankfully. Sighing outwardly, Tony carefully made his way through the busted light bulbs and, sliding on his dress shoes as he went, towards the front door. He could totally fix power outage if he went down to the breaker in the basement, but that was if he could get to the basement. Not to mention he didn't have any of his tools or anything to replace the fried parts of the break-

He stopped short and looked down at his phone, the only thing that was only his in the apartment. Sure the parts might not fit exactly, but his options were limited and Steve technically said he didn't want to see any parts up here… Placing the key in his back pocket, Tony carefully opened the door, still holding his phone in his other hand, and began his slow descent down the stairs to the basement.

* * *

Tony was already back upstairs in the now lit up apartment after 2 hours of trying to fix the breaker, now sitting on the couch with his now empty phone on his lap, when Steve burst through the door to the apartment. Tony turned to see the blond in his S.H.I.E.L.D uniform, carrying two bags of groceries under his arms with worried expression on his face. "You're a little late, Capsicle," Tony said dryly as Steve placed the bags on the table and turned to look at his boyfriend. Steve was in fact 2 hours late and by the look he was giving Tony, he definitely knew it.

"I'm sorry, Tony. I went to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things after Fury let me leave," he gestured to the bags on the table as Tony stood from his seat to get a better look at the disheveled Captain before him. "But the lines were ridiculously long and I ended up behind 10 or more people with lots of food."

"And let me guess. You ended up helping them bring their shit to their cars too?" Tony asked bitterly as he walked over to the table, where a confused Steve stared back at him. "I wouldn't be surprised if you drove them home too, considering your 2 _fucking_ hours late."

Reaching inside one of bags to partly find something edible and partly to calm his temper, Tony pulled out another bag of Cal-Organic baby carrots and, after opening the package, chomped down on a carrot as he awaited Steve's reaction. He hoped he ruffled a few of Steve's feathers because, in truth, he was _fuming_ and really wanted to take it on someone. "I really don't want to fight about this, Tony," Steve said quietly as Tony looked up at him, feeling only slightly intimidated by the height difference between him and his boyfriend.

Giving him a oh-really? look, Tony snapped back with a bit of menace in his voice, "That really is too bad, but if you were all by yourself for 10 hours with no electricity and no way to call or talk to anyone, I think you would feel pretty pissed too, Rogers."

"What do you mean there was no electricity? Everything seems to be working fine!"

"Because I had to fix the **fucking **breaker in the basement with pieces of my **phone **with no light because obviously no one in this fucking shithole was going to do it!"

"What is wrong with you?! Do **NOT **call my old home that just because you got the luxury of a nice house and waiters that did everything for you!"

"You call this piece of **SHIT **a home!? It's **BARELY** standing on it's foundation! I saw the supports in the basement and they're all **ROTTEN**! Jesus Steve! Do you know how long I was alone today!? Huh? **TOO LONG**!

"Look, I'm sorry you were home by yourself, but you need to **stop **being so **selfish **and think about someone other than yourself!"

"Like you?"

A pair of sky blue eyes and chocolate brown eyes glared at each other, almost daring each other to look away first. But after Tony had spat those two words out of his mouth, it was Steve who cracked, turning away to look at the table as Tony stared at the star on Steve's chest. After a minute of almost total silence (other the people upstairs), Steve looked back at Tony, his blue eyes gazing at the brunette's face. Finally, he spoke, his tone softer and sadder it seemed. "I thought that after the civil war," he began, Tony starting to feel a sinking feeling in his stomach, "...we could at least get along. Maybe even become friends. And we did, in the best way possible and I've been so happy to be with you. And yet, 13 months later, even when you and I are _dating_, we still can't..."

Tony, seeing that Steve was really struggling to say what he wanted to say, wrapped his arms around Steve's waist and pulled him in for a hug, the reality of the amount of strain he just put on their relationship hitting him hard in the face. "Shh. It's okay," Tony mumbled into Steve's chest as the blonde wrapped his arms around Tony too. "You're right Steve. As always. I've been selfish and I was dick to you and you deserve better. I just…" he was glad that Steve couldn't see the blush he was sure was growing on his face as he finished, "...I guess I got lonely."

Steve pulled away from Tony and laced his fingers together with the brunette's, a small smile appearing on his face at Tony's confession. "I understand. I was lonely most of the time I was in the army. Sure, I had Peggy and few other people that I could talk to, but I never really connected with any of them in a way that made me feel… Well, not lonely." Tony grinned at the blond's horrible word selection and before Steve could say anything else, Tony leaned upwards and kissed him. It was a sweet kiss that took Steve by surprise at first, but Tony could feel his mouth melt into the kiss as Steve pulled him closer. God, it was times like these, sweet little moments like this when you got to see behind the serious exterior of Captain America and actually see Steve Rogers, an artistic and sensitive _man_, that make all of their stupid arguments and fights worthwhile.


End file.
